Black Blades
The Black Blades are a team in the SHL that joined, and was formed, during the 2004-2005 Season. They are named after Urban Black Smiths Co., who sponsors their franchise. Twice in their career, the Black Blades have finished twice in the SHL Final but were unable to win the SHL Cup. The Blades are known for their quick and skillful players and their two goalies, who are thought to be one of the greatest goalie duos of all time. Black has retired three players, Bryan Baltov (goalie from 2005-2009), Luke Greant (2005-2010), Mark Sartonelli (2008-2014). During the 2015-2016 Season, the Blades won their first SHL Cup, beating the Citadel Centurions in the final, 4-2. History '2015-2016 Season' The 2015-2016 Season was recognized as a season of multiple achievements for the Blades. It was also seen as an outpouring, as the coach describes "the Blades have been reinvented". The Blades finished with a 50-18-2 record, their best record in league history. William Smith recorded 28 wins in 35 games, David Fijin recorded 92 assists, the third most in league history, and 126 points for the Red Stick Trophy and the Bardo Trophy as awards. They finished second behind the Citadel Centurions who captured the Kingship Trophy with a 51-16-3 record. However, Black clinched the conference with the most points. Being projected as the future SHL Cup champions from 4/10 analysts, they were regarded as the best all-around team going into the playoffs. The Blades defeated the Brown Buccaneers in a 4-1 series before going on to face the Branton Nickels, defeating them in a 4-3 series. The playmaking of Matthias Falleaf was regarded as what made the difference in winning the series. Later, they played Team X, beating them in a 4-3 series, in where each team won at home and never on the road. After beating Team X, they advanced to their third SHL Cup final in six seasons, facing off against the Citadel Centurions. In a 4-2 series decision, the Black Blades defeated the Centurions, who were offensively led by Roy Vallus and Kristian Vugasus. In the sixth game, Matthias Falleaf scored the series-winning goal with an assist from Varo Tyutin, winning the SHL Cup with a final score of 4-2; Black had 43 shots on net where Citadel had 38. Falleaf was the second player in SHL history to score the series-winning goal all four times behind Nick Phillips who did it the year prior. Matthias Falleaf won the Canadian Leaf Trophy for most valuable player in the playoffs. David Rolston won the Top Hat Trophy for most hat tricks during the season, as well as the Phillips Trophy. Mark Nilsson won the Iron Fist Trophy for best defenseman; it was his third nomination. David Fijin was also nominated for the Captain Victory Trophy, Majestic Trophy and Greene Trophy, coming 2nd place on all of them. DeMarcus Jones was nominated for the Katana Trophy, coming 2nd behind Ran Godfrey. William Smith was nominated for the Goliath Ironwall Trophy, coming 2nd to Buck Kampra. William described the loss as a bit of a "crusher", saying he felt like "Grant Martin a couple of years ago". Being his final game in the SHL, Varo Tyutin retired at the end of the year, happy to be an SHL Cup Champion. At the end of the year, the Blades signed William Erhart to a remaining one-year contract - William expressed it will be his final year in the SHL. The Blades later selected Mikael Kroon, 23rd overall in the 2016 SHL Draft. '2016-2017 Season' The Blades added Sam Nilman, their selection from the 2015 SHL Draft, to replace Varo Tyutin, who had retired. The 2016-2017 Season was remarked as the "worst year they have played", finishing with a 27-30-13 record. The Blades expressed disappointed concern - it was the first season where they allowed more than an average of 32 shots a game; this season it was at 36. William Smith finished 15-14-11, the worst record he had ever posted, with a 2.67 GAA. William later expressed "I wanted to blame the defence, but it was me that was extremely soft. It was like we didn't even win last year. Probably the most pathetic season I have ever played." The team faced a lot of criticism for their performance, stating "what we tried wasn't sufficient". Captain David Fijin commented on the statements that the loss of Mark Nilsson during a critical part of the season wasn't the reason for their performance, they were just "off by a mile". It marked the first time that the Blades missed the playoffs. The GM, Lans Older expressed he would delve a bit into the 2017 SHL Draft, and look into some trades. He said "no one a few exceptions is safe" after having the disastrous finish in the 2016-2017 Season. The Blades won the draft lottery and will be able to select first overall pick, Maxim Karlsson. Players '2016-2017 Season' The current roster: Goalies 'Previous Season' #David Fijin C 38-42-80 #Matthias Falleaf A 28-46-74 #Mark Nilsson A 30-36-66 #David Rolston #DeMarcus Jones #Andres Baker A''' #Graham Turris #Daniel Smos #Hunter Taves #Hunter Lavish #Justin Graves #Joshua Pike #Doug Graham #Varo Tyutin #William Erhart #Landon Gettsburg #Michael Colbuck #Tyreese Gibbons #Noah Parker #Bob Varsity #Keegan Coleman #Morgan Verdan #Tyler Cainnes #Durant DeVon #Drew Sanchos #William Smith '''G #Peter Schwartz G